The group burst into laughter. The bearded man's face showed a fox-like cunning as he looked at me from afar, as if saying "what can you do about it?"

Forced to swallow this bitter pill, I couldn't voice my grievances, filled with regret and frustration that clawed at my heart.

"What do you want?" Sophie screamed in desperation.

"We don't want much, just some money to play with."

It was clearly about money. We remained silent. Sophie, relieved, spoke first: "We can talk about anything as long as you don't report this or leak the videos."

Her husband was a businessman who, despite rarely being home, had kept her financially comfortable these years. Money wasn't an issue for her. But for the rest of us, it wasn't so easy.

Huang Rong, avoiding eye contact, hesitantly asked, "How much?"

The bearded man curled his lips, rolling his eyes while looking around, occasionally flashing a hawk-like glint in his eyes, revealing a barely noticeable cruel intent.

"100,000 each."

My heart skipped a beat, stunned. 100,000 wasn't a small amount.

If it weren't for the profits from the novelty shop I'd opened recently, I couldn't have come up with that much at once. But I didn't want to give up 100,000 so easily.

"Guys, we're just salaried workers. How could we have 100,000?"

Hearing this, the former masseur suddenly spoke up, "You just opened a novelty shop that's making good money."

I clenched my fists, shocked that he even knew about my shop. Clearly, these guys had done their homework, investigating all of us beforehand.

Sophie was well-off, and I'd recently made some good money, but Huang Rong had always kept a low profile with no recent changes in her lifestyle.

Thinking about how much money those two had spent at my online store, things were starting to make sense.

Sophie added anxiously, "Once we pay, all these videos must be destroyed!"

The bearded man nodded slightly, "Of course."